Will & Grace – Tex in the City

By: Kelly Kearney

Texas, the land of big dreams, big food and small minds when it comes to LGBT acceptance…or at least, that’s what Jack thinks when his grandson invites him to the big horn state to see his stage homage to Marilyn Monroe. Along for the yee-haw is Will, who joins for the moral support and Karen, who dukes it out with Beverly Leslie over their shared piece of the border wall. It’s gay cowboys and immigration woes on this week’s, “Will and Grace.”

Texas Bound

Jack (Sean Hayes) gets word that his grandson Skip (Samuel Faraci) will be singing in a church concert and decides to support him with an impromptu trip to Texas. Of course, having been bullied most of his young life makes Jack worried for Skip and the response he could get from this performance, especially since the boy is set to sing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” After all, this is Texas we are talking about and Jack worries about that region’s perceived rampant homophobia. It does not help that everywhere he goes in his cowboy hat, he assumes the locals are judging him. He even thinks the man who spit his chewing tobacco out in front of the hotel spit it at him because he’s a gay man. Will (Eric McCormack), along with Karen (Megan Mullally), go along for the trip and try to calm Jack’s nerves, but the fact Skip’s performance is in a church has given Jack “McFairyland” flashbacks. He’s convinced that being out in Texas is far more dangerous than being out in New York City. To be fair, if someone spits at you in New York, it’s not because they think you’re gay, it’s because you’re in New York and that’s what we New Yorkers refer to as “laying down the welcome mat.” Jack’s just not use to the Texas vibes and he thinks the best way to avoid a wad of chaw to the face is to convince Skip to pretend to be someone he is not. To be safe, he needs to trade in his flair for pearls and pink taffeta for some spurs and a cowboy swagger. While it’s true that some regions of the country are not safe for people to be themselves, Will reminds Jack that someone shamed him into staying in the closet and it affected him negatively his whole life. As a child Will dreamed of playing Freddie Mercury in his school’s talent show, but once his mother saw him in his costume she refused to let him go on with the show. That feeling, like who Will was as a person was not good enough for his mother, stuck with him and he warns Jack not to make the same mistake with Skip. Losing the support of those who are supposed to love you know matter what is not a pain that Jack wants Skip to feel, but he doesn’t want him to face hatred either. In the end, he decides to be there for Skip and cheer on his grandson’s show, no matter the outcome.

At the church Will and Jack show up just in time to see Skip’s rendition of the Monroe classic. Dressed in a hot pink sweat suit and gloves, Skip sings his heart out and nails his song and dance better than anything Jack offered up in his sad off-Broadway shows. When the song ends, Jack can’t even look at the crowd’s response because he assumes they hated everything about it and Skip is about to be traumatized worse than his little heart can handle. To his surprise, the crowd loves it and Jack rushes the stage to show Skip how proud he is of him. The mood changes when Skip tells the audience that he owes it all to his grandfather, who is his role model. This rubs Jack the wrong way because he feels guilty over wanting Skip to hide who he is. So, in true “Just Jack” fashion, he grabs the mic from the church pastor and admits the truth, that he wanted Skip to pretend to be someone he wasn’t and now he sees how important it is to always be yourself.  Even if you’re afraid of the reaction, living your truth and making a place for yourself in the world is the only way to find happiness in life. Jack thanks Will for helping him see the error of his ways which prompts Will to relive his Freddie Mercury performance that he missed out on all those years ago. With his fake mustache and tight jeans and tank top, Will belts out his favorite Freddie Mercury song like the Queen he always wanted to be. Being yourself, no matter what people think, is a freedom that Will and Skip desperately needed and maybe in that freedom was a lesson Jack needed to learn, too. After all, he assumed people would judge them for being gay, but Jack was the one who bought into stereotypes and judged an entire state based on a few misconceived interactions. Lesson learned, McFarland.

Border Wall Blues

Elsewhere in Texas, Karen’s made a vacation out of touring her piece of the border wall. Yeah, she bought into that whole scam. Dressed in leather and riding a four-wheeler, Karen gets the shock of her life when Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan), dressed like a pint-sized cowboy, shows up to tell her he bought the section of wall right out from under her. This does not sit well with Walker who takes out her anger on Beverley by running over him on his tiny, child sized ATV. Nobody out bids Karen’s racism…nobody. The ATV’s are not the only things these two warring divas break, their crash manages to destroy their section of the wall, which lands both of them in jail.

Inside her cell Karen meets Blanca (Yelyna De Leon), a woman who as arrested trying to cross the border in hopes of reuniting with her family. The woman is from El Salvador, which softens Karen’s cold heart because her beloved Rosie was from that same country. Her love for that maid opens her eyes to the Blanca’s struggles and she hands her a gold bracelet hoping she can sell it and find her family. It’s a small but kind gesture and the woman is thankful for the help she’s offered. Karen, who rarely goes out of her way to see things from another point of view, learns that the information she got on the border wall wasn’t at all true. Now that she’s met Blanca, she realizes immigrants are people with families, just like her Rosario. Beverley interrupts their heart to heart to say his alone time with the prison guard was enough to get them a ticket out of jail. There’s one catch, both of them have to pay for the repairs on the wall. Karen, who was touched by Blanca but more so over her fear that other Rosario’s could be kept from socialites like herself, refuses to fund the wall repairs and leaves that up to her elvish cowboy nemesis. When Karen landed in Texas, I doubt she knew that her grinch like heart would grow into an actual working organ and she owes it all to experience and a maid who loved her like a daughter. A very drunk and racist daughter but, hey, love is love.

Grace and her West Side Curmudgeon

Back in New York, things are going great for Grace (Debra Messing) and Noah (David Schwimmer) and the two are more alike than either of them can admit. It’s why it’s shocking that they have not slept together yet and Grace is starting to worry that their window to romance is about to close. Attempt after attempt at romance fails miserably. No matter how many times they try to seal the deal, things do not work out. First, Grace ate too much and is feeling bloated and totally not sexy. Next, Noah brings her a tempting sandwich to whet her appetite, but when he finds out Grace slept with the sandwich maker Noah is completely turned off and storms out. Sex seems to be off the table and Noah wonders if maybe they’re too much alike to start a romance. Grace agrees and admits it’s too bad because at her age everything in the bedroom would be on the menu and that peaks Noah’s interest. “Everything,” he asks, in a rather hopeful and sultry manner. “Everything,” Grace says and that does it. Noah is turned on and the window is open! The two head to the bedroom for some good old fashion boot knockin’ and sandwich eating. Will their relationship last or is it solely based on deli meats and cynical misanthropy? Who knows. But, for now, it works and Grace is finally moving on with her life, window open or closed.